tile
Tile
ca. 1650 (made)
ca. 1650 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This Mughal tile is one of a group acquired from Mr. Frederick H. Andrews in 1923. He had been living in Srinagar and wrote to the museum in 1922 offering to sell his collection before he left that year to return to the UK. All were acquired in Kashmir, and were stated to have come from the 'tomb of Madani' in Srinagar. The tomb is actually that of Sayyid Muhammad Hussain Madani whose mosque, dated 1444, is next to it. The tiles themselves are later, produced in the reign of the emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58), for a ceremonial gateway to the tomb and mosque probably constructed in about 1640. The gateway was originally richly embellished with polychrome tiles. Details of what little remained in the early 20th century were recorded in the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India for 1908-1909. Their photographs show tiles set into the walls that are closely similar to the panel of four tiles in the V&A to which this example belongs.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | tile (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Earthenware coated in white slip and enamel paints in cuerda seca technique |
| Brief description | Architecture, ceramic, glazed, Mughal, c. 1650 |
| Physical description | Part of a tile panel with a design stretching over the individual tiles. The tile has a green ground with parts of floral sprays including a spray of white blossoms picked out in manganese purple with yellow centres. Above there are parts of other flowering sprays with a purple flower on the left and orange flowers with touches of purple and a white outline hanging down from the top |
| Dimensions |
|
| Styles | |
| Object history | This tile is one of a collection acquired from Mr Frederick H. Andrews in 1923. He had been living in Srinagar, where he was Director of the Technical Institute of Kashmir, and wrote to the museum in 1922 offering to sell his collection before he left that year to return to the U.K. The tile is said to be part of the tile decoration on the tomb of Madani near But Kadal in Srinagar, Kashmir. It was probably made in Lahore. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This Mughal tile is one of a group acquired from Mr. Frederick H. Andrews in 1923. He had been living in Srinagar and wrote to the museum in 1922 offering to sell his collection before he left that year to return to the UK. All were acquired in Kashmir, and were stated to have come from the 'tomb of Madani' in Srinagar. The tomb is actually that of Sayyid Muhammad Hussain Madani whose mosque, dated 1444, is next to it. The tiles themselves are later, produced in the reign of the emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58), for a ceremonial gateway to the tomb and mosque probably constructed in about 1640. The gateway was originally richly embellished with polychrome tiles. Details of what little remained in the early 20th century were recorded in the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India for 1908-1909. Their photographs show tiles set into the walls that are closely similar to the panel of four tiles in the V&A to which this example belongs. |
| Bibliographic reference | Susan Stronge, ‘Tile Revetments in the Reign of Shah Jahan’, in Ebba Koch in collaboration with Ali Anooshahr, eds, The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan. Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature, Marg Publications, Mumbai 2019, pp 220-245. See Plate 18, p. 236. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IM.265-1923 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
